Savannah Georgia... Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil... Bonaventure and Greenwich Cemeteries

The book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, provided a focus for part of our tour of Savannah. The book describes some of the eccentric personalities in Savannah and, in particular, deals with the story of Jim Williams an antiques collector and restorationist who shot his (rumored to be bisexual and definitely volatile) assistant, Danny Hansford. Williams is the only person in Georgia to be tried four times for the same alleged murder (the first three were guilty verdicts reversed on appeal) before he was finally acquitted.

At the time, Williams was living in Mercer House, one of over 50 houses he had restored in Savannah. This house had been built for Civil War General Hugh W. Mercer, the great-grandfather of the well-known songwriter, Johnny Mercer. The historic houses of Savannah, including the Mercer House, formed the core of our visit.

Both the book and the movie (loosely based) on the book also feature scenes in two Savannah cemeteries. It was in these two cemeteries that our Savannah visit ended.

Many of the large central plots in the impressive Bonaventure Cemetery are family plots where the notable families of Savannah are buried.

The Mercer family has its own section in the cemetery ...

... complete with a viewing bench of the family graves inscribed with many of Johnny's song titles.

Johnny Mercer wrote over 100o songs, with titles of some of his best known tunes on the bench in the Mercer section of the cemetery. Probably his most famous song is Moon River.

Recently, members the Mercer family plot have chosen a lyric from one of Johnny's songs to be placed on their marker.

Now... a transition to the other, much more modest, cemetery close by where Danny Hansford is buried.

Danny, who seemed to have a death wish, boasted if he were to die while he was at Mercer House, that he would be buried in Bonaventure Cemetary with a big tombstone on his grave. He was buried in nearby modest Greenwich Cemetery with a small flat marker over his grave. Many people who seek out his grave leave something which they feel would have been of interest to him such as empty beer bottles and toy cars. Beside his grave marker is a copy of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" temporarily placed there by Sandra.

Shortly after his acquittal, Jim Williams died at the age of 59 of heart failure complicated by pneumonia. He is buried next to his mother in Gordon, Georgia.